A Secret Millennium Whiskey

[mawhinney]

Did you miss out on the chance to obtain Irish millennium whiskeys way back in 2000? Hadn't the money? Hadn't the interest/knowledge? Just got married? Too young?
Fret not! Now I can help you by directing you to IRELAND'S SECRET MILLENNIUM WHISKEY! A truly delightful whiskey that I am currently sipping; it is available and very affordable but (alas !) only 714 bottles produced.
It is, of course, The Irishman 12 year old Single Malt, bottled November 2012,which those of you who have mastered advanced sums, will now have deduced was distilled in the year of the Millennium.
Go get!

[DavidH]

They missed a marketing trick there, didn't they. Luckily you were standing by to step into the breach

I only posted on this one last week, but I haven't tried it so it's good to hear a personal recommendation. I like the simplicity of the label too.

[Pudge72]

***Slight, though related, thread hi-jack***

Hi DavidH (and others),

Seeing your post about the Irishman 12 (and subsequent note about 2013 being a big year - including having US representation) I was wondering about thoughts on these two bottles, which are currently at Binny's (a large liquor chain - 29 stores and growing - in the Chicago area):

http://www.binnys.com/all/irishman#/?page=1

Is the cask strength bottle worth the $130 price tag? For reference, $130 would get you bottles like Macallan 17 Fine Oak ($135), 1989 Balblair, Dalmore Cigar Malt, Bruichladdich PC6 or PC8, Midleton Very Rare ($139), and Bushmills 21 ($119).

If other Irishman bottles become available (in US or Canada), which ones would you recommend?

Edit to add: The Single Malt bottle was/is available (only one bottle listed currently) in Ontario @ $60.

Thank you in advance!

[DavidH]

Any time I've done a comparison tasting among the Writers Tears / Irishman whiskeys I've always preferred the basic Writers Tears. For me, that's where the company got the pot still/malt balance just right.

That was very much NOT the opinion of the room as a whole at an Irish Whiskey Society tasting last year:
http://www.irishwhiskeysociety.com/even ... 2012-05-31

It's interesting to see that the recent Irishman 12yo single malt came first that night, followed by The Irishman Cask Strength.

[Pudge72]

Any time I've done a comparison tasting among the Writers Tears / Irishman whiskeys I've always preferred the basic Writers Tears. For me, that's where the company got the pot still/malt balance just right.

That was very much NOT the opinion of the room as a whole at an Irish Whiskey Society tasting last year:
http://www.irishwhiskeysociety.com/even ... 2012-05-31

It's interesting to see that the recent Irishman 12yo single malt came first that night, followed by The Irishman Cask Strength.

Thanks for the feedback. My wonderful wife gave me a bottle of the WT for Christmas...I'm waiting to open it after I've knocked off a couple of near empty bottles first. Between the WT, the Lot 40 Canadian rye, and Sullivan's Cove Double Cask from Australia all waiting to be opened, I sense a 'non-Scotch' night shaping up in the future.